Bexar County, TX Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Texas Administrative Code Title 30 Chapter 111 Subchapter B (Outdoor Burning Rule) sets baseline conditions for any open burning in Texas: daylight hours only, attended continuously, no burning of electrical insulation, treated lumber, plastics, rubber, asphaltic materials, or domestic waste from more than one household, and a minimum 300-foot setback from any residence or structure on adjacent property (30 TAC 111.209). Burning must be at least 10 feet from wooded or combustible vegetation. Pre-burn notification to TCEQ or the Texas Forest Service may be required for prescribed burns. On top of this, Bexar County Commissioners Court, acting under TX Government Code 418.108 and the Texas A&M Forest Service Keetch-Byram Drought Index, adopts county burn bans in response to drought; Bexar typically has burn bans in force during late summer of most years. When a burn ban is active, ALL outdoor burning including yard debris burning is prohibited in unincorporated Bexar County, with narrow exceptions for prescribed burns conducted by certified burn managers. Cooking fires in approved appliances (propane grills, enclosed smokers) are generally allowed even under a burn ban. Welding and cutting operations with spark-producing equipment require fire watches during burn bans. Inside city limits, municipal rules apply: San Antonio Chapter 11 prohibits most open burning year-round with limited permit exceptions for ceremonial, educational, and firefighter training burns.